This village has approximately 60 households with 300
residents. Jungle Aid has been visiting
and supporting this village for 9 years.
We have held regular emergency medical clinics, health promotion
classes, supported hospital visits, provided basics such as rice and medicines,
clothes, shoes, hygiene and stationery, installed water tanks and support
access to school for all children under 16 years old.

Our team was
joined by 9 students and 2 teachers from Hua Hin International School (HHIS).
The group of 17 volunteers met bright and early. They arrived with bags of
donated items including toiletries, shoes, blankets, small toys, seeds and food
that they thoughtfully purchased prior to the trip. They had raised the money
themselves through a school event.

The drive to
the village takes about 1.5 hours from Hua Hin, a journey that takes you
through some stunning scenery and elephant country. After leaving the main road
to access the village you have to drive over some rough terrain, cross a few
fast flowing rivers and navigate some very muddy roads.

Once we
arrived in Pala-U Noi, we broke up into 4 groups – the medical team, assessment
team, football coach and the educational team.

Our medical team benefitted
from the students’ ability to translate for us. They were able to convey each
patient’s illness to the nurse so that the nurse was able to treat each person
seen. Many patients were suffering from poor skin conditions, intestinal worms
and poor diet and some serious social concerns. One 10-year-old girl is
currently home looking after her mother as she has a serious alcohol problem
and a new born baby. The 10-year-old is currently supporting the family.

Main achievements:

29 people seen in the medical clinic-contraceptives
provided, wound care

Football coaching to the village children by James

Educational games played with the children

Village assessment completed by Noon-water project
date agreed for January if we have the funds

Food, clothes, blankets, toys, mosquito nets, seeds
and shoes donated

10-year-old identified needing support to attend
school

We ended the day by
providing donated items to the villagers. They were extremely thankful for what
we were able to bring.

A huge thank you to HHIS students and staff for their support on
this trip. Our next visit is scheduled for 8th
December 2018 Thank you for all your support and helping us
make this happen………….

Children from the village helping to load and transport supplies and donations

Our volunteers met at the Market Village at 7AM and with the usual early start our team set off to Bon Luk.

After a 3 hour road journey, we were met at the pick-up point by villagers and transported the donations and medical bag to the village.

We brought 100kg rice and instant noodles to the village shelter which now supports 18 children. Jungle Aid has been supporting the village and the shelter for more than 5 years.

Jungle Aid volunteer nurse Marianne supervised the clinic and treated 28 patients. We also organized hospital visits for 5 patients; this includes 3 patients for follow up and 2 new patients, including one 7 – month old baby with blood disorder, a young man who was paralyzed after a stroke and another young man with kidney stones.

Jungle Aid continues to support to Teethep, a 32 – year old man who is paralyzed on his left side. We will continue to pay for his hospital visits and medication and will provide him part of his personal expenses to reduce his dependence on his family and neighbors.

Our small team of 4 volunteers met in Hua Hin bright and early on Saturday morning. After brief introductions, we set off Bang Saphan with a truck full of donations and equipment for the medical clinic. We made excellent time and got to the village quickly.

The two nurses, Marianne and Aranya, go to work setting up the medical bag and area in such a way that both nurses could run medical clinics simultaneously. Sirasa, our translator, assisted Marianne with translations.

They saw 47 patients in total and in record time. In comparison to the December trip, where the nurse saw lots of colds and flu-like symptoms, most of the aliments seen by the two nurses on this trip were minor.

In the meantime, Joanne checked on the status of school children that have been supported by Jungle Aid. She updated the record of the students’ age and grade level to ensure that they are making good progress in their education.

Most of the students were in the appropriate grade level, showing that they are still in school and advancing to the next grade. In addition, 10 more students were added to our records, including 6 students who had entered school this academic year and 5 more who were previously unrecorded.

We anticipate that 5 more students to be enrolled in the upcoming school year. It’s amazing to see how many students are able to attend school because of additional support from Jungle Aid.

Once the assessment was completed, Joanne went to the local shop to purchase 700 kg of rice, 300 eggs and charcoal. These items were distributed to the villagers as well as clothing, bedding, toys and other donated items. It was a productive day with stellar team. We are mission accomplished, we got in the truck and headed back to Hua Hin.

Thank you for making this possible…….

]]>Medical Update: Pala U Noi – 28 October, 2017https://www.jungleaid.org/2018/03/18/7714/
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 15:37:23 +0000http://www.jungleaid.org/?p=7714Our team consisted of 5 volunteers who met on Saturday, October 28, 2017. For the third time, James Goyder, a coach from Dusit Thani Hua Hin Soccer Academy joined to out a soccer clinic with the children.

We had a great day as we had Sam, our osteopath, able to treat almost 10 patients. Aranya, our translator for the day, was able to do health promotion on teeth brushing and we gave out approximately 20 tooth brushes to children and mums that needed one. The medical clinic had several skin conditions including lice and many women continuing to ask for birth control.

With the help of a Jungle Aid translator, Georgina, the Area Manager,was able to discuss some areas of concern with the nursery school teacher named “G2”. He explained that a roof extension would help to keep the rain and water from getting inside the school.

G2 mentioned that a toilet next to the school would help considerably in the rainy season as the closest toilet is 30 meters away. A toilet next to the school would ensure the children aren’t getting wet and muddy when needing to leave the school to use the toilet. An application was filled out for each project and G2 agreed to submit the cost for materials and labour.

There was also follow-up made with the two students who are currently at University who need our financial help. Both students will contact Jungle Aid via Joanne (area manager Bang Saphan/translator) when their tuition fees are due for next term so that Jungle can pay the school directly.

Thank you for all your support and helping us make this happen………….

]]>Bang Saphan: Medical Update, 28 October 2017https://www.jungleaid.org/2018/03/18/bang-saphan-medical-update-28-october-2017/
Sun, 18 Mar 2018 15:25:22 +0000http://www.jungleaid.org/?p=7708Bang Saphan is 3 hours away from Hua Hin and has our most vulnerable families that we work with. This village has approximately 120 residents scattered in various small groups of houses.

The trip had several aims:

Perform medical clinic for villagers and school children

Follow up on condition of donated bikes for school children in the village

Our volunteers met in Hua Hin at 7 am on Saturday morning. After brief introductions, our small team of 4 volunteers set off for the long drive to Bang Saphan.

We stopped at Makro in Prachuap Khiri Khan to purchase the rice and eggs in order to provide basic nutrition for the school children in the village. We loaded everything in the vehicle and squeezed back in before heading back on the road.

When we arrived at the village, all of the donations were unloaded. Our medical team set up and quickly started seeing patients. The volunteers included our nurse, Anne, who worked with Alicia, medical recorder, and Joanne acting as translator.

In total, 28 patients were seen during the medical clinic as it seemed that the changing weather had affected many of the people in the village. We were very happy to see that the woman from the August visit who was experiencing dizziness and lack of appetite seemed much better after being given iron and vitamins. Her condition was much improved.

In the meantime, Katrin checked on the condition of the bicycles that Jungle Aid had donated to the village last year to help the school children get to school. We had asked the villagers to bring all of the bikes to evaluate their condition and assess if any additional parts or tools were needed to get these bike in working condition.

A few bikes needed new rims for the wheels and the villagers said they did not have the tools to remove and replace the tires. These needs will be addressed in the December trip.

Current issues and solving them:

Paid rent for 2 more months for the 14 children and 6 adults to continue living at this house.

Followed up on condition of donated bicycles to help school children get to school and purchase additional tools and parts needed to repair bicycles.

Assessed the damaged bathroom door at the rental house and priced the purchase price for a replacement at the local construction shop.

Before leaving the village, we distributed clothing, shoes and other donated items. The second school term started November 1st, so our distribution of small tote and school supplies was very timely.

The children seemed very excited about the coloured pencils and the soft toys. As there had been many patients seen that day, we felt that we had achieved our purpose for coming to the village. It was getting late and we needed to start making our way back to Hua Hin, so we said our farewells to the villagers and promised to come back again in December.

As soon as we arrived, James Goyder, a coach from Dusit Thani Hua Hin Football Academy set up straight away to begin a football clinic with the children. This has become a regular part of the trip and the children are always eager to join in and play.

Our medical team saw 25 patients with illnesses that ranged from mild coughs and colds, severe chest infections to a badly burnt baby.

The accident happened the day before and covered a large area on the baby’s leg. We were able to treat the baby to prevent infection.

The mother of the baby is only 16 years old and we discussed in depth ways of preventing further accidents within the house while the mum is cooking.

We also had discussions on women’s hygiene to help prevent the increased number of urine infections.

With the help of Siripan, a JA translator, the area manager was able to follow up with discussions about two new projects – extending the roof of the school and construction of toilets next to the school.

A deposit was given to purchase materials for the roof extension, however, a meeting would need to be arranged to discuss this with land owner to discuss the project and get permission to proceed with the toilets. A meeting for the following week was arranged.

There was a request for educational sponsorship by a young man who is in his first year of studies at Rahajapat University in Petburi. He has requested financial assistance so that he can become a Physical Education Teacher.

Thank you for all your support and helping us make this happen………….

]]>Bon Luk Medical Update- 20th January, 2018https://www.jungleaid.org/2018/03/16/bon-luk-medical-update-20th-january-2018/
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 14:35:51 +0000http://www.jungleaid.org/?p=7626Our volunteers met at Market Village at 7am and made the usual early start to Bon Luk. After a 3 hour on and off road journey, we were met at the pick-up point by villagers, who transported all the donations and medical supplies to the village by motorbike.

Our donations included cooking oil, canned fish, instant noodles, eggs, fish sauce, rice, clothes, shoes, toys, knitted toys from our local ladies knitting group, personal hygiene items and several other miscellaneous donations. Jungle Aid has been supporting the village and the shelter housing 16 children for more than 5 years.

This time, we also brought some white boards to be used as village notice board and to be used at the village school run by the rangers.

Jungle Aid volunteer nurse Marianne was assisted by Liz (medical Journal) and Sunee (translator). The group saw 27 patients, also following up on the patient from last month who had serious oral infection and was referred to hospital for further investigation and thorough treatment. The patient had visited the hospital, the visit arranged and funded by Jungle Aid, is taking medication and has recovered very well.

We also followed up with the patient who had surgery for gall stones. She has been regularly following up with the treatment and was at the hospital for x – ray and medication. Jungle Aid paid for her visits as well as for another patient.

Jungle Aid provided scholarship money to a student whose request for help in further studies was recently approved.

We also received a request to continue the educational sponsorship of 5 students next year. One new student has applied for sponsorship to continue her education. These requests will go forward to the Jungle Aid board for review. Once approved, we will hand over the scholarships and uniforms etc to the students before start of new school year.

Our Area Manager, along with volunteers Rob, Siri and Alex (translators), worked closely with the village leader to assess the villages current needs.

We learnt that the students enrolled at village’s primary school received new bicycles on ‘Children’s Day’ and the children were happy riding their new bicycles around village.

Villagers are always grateful for the useful things we bring them every time we visit them and we are always looking for more ways we can help.

After an amazing day with incredible volunteers, the group headed on a long, dusty journey home around 4pm.

This village has approximately 40 households with 200 residents. Jungle Aid has been visiting and supporting this village for 6 years. We have held regular emergency medical clinics, health promotion classes, supported hospital visits, provided basics such as rice and medicines, clothes, shoes, hygiene and stationery, installed water tanks and support access to school for all children under 16 years old.

Over the years’ Jungle Aid has achieved a huge amount:

We have seen over 2188 patients during 91 remote clinics

We have supported over 175 hospital treatments

We have carried out 67 village assessments

We have donated masses of rice, clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, medicine, bikes and water tanks

Our team consisted of 13 volunteers (11 adults and 2 children) who met on Saturday, September 30, 2017. Joining us on the trip was James Goyder, a coach from Dusit Thani Hua Hin Soccer Academy, who put on a fantastic soccer clinic for 10 children from the village.

The drive to the village takes about 1.5 hours from Hua Hin, a journey that takes you through some stunning scenery and elephant country. After leaving the main road to access the village you have to drive over some rough terrain, cross a few fast flowing rivers and navigate some very muddy roads.

Emma and Aranya, our JA nurses were able to work closely with the families that needed support with skin conditions and injuries. We were also able to refer patients to our osteopath visiting from France, Kim, who was supporting us from Hands of Solidarity. Health promotion on hand washing and tooth brushing was given. We provided over 30 tooth brushes and bars of soap to the families before giving out the clothes and shoes.

With the help of a JA translator, the area manager was able to discuss the well project and gain further understanding of what information is needed to proceed with the first phase of digging the well. There was also a great conversation with the local teacher, to determine how we can support educational needs of the village. Two students who are currently at University need our immediate financial help and we hope to be able to do that in the coming weeks.

Bang Saphan is 3 hours away from Hua Hin and has our most vulnerable families that we work with. This village has approximately 120 residents scattered in various small groups of houses.

The trip had several aims:
• Perform medical clinic for villagers and school children.
• Follow up on education project by obtaining information for educational scholarship student and updating student data for 6 children who entered school this academic school year.
• Pass on donations of clothing, books, personal hygiene items and 500kg of rice and 300 eggs.

Our volunteers met in Hua Hin at 7am on Saturday morning. After brief introductions, our small, but dedicated team of 5 volunteers set off for the long drive to Bang Saphan. On the drive South, we stopped at Macro in Prachuap Khiri Khan to purchase rice and eggs in order to provide basic nutrition for the school children in the village. We loaded up the Jungle Aid pickup truck with the donations and continued on our journey.

When we drove up to the meeting point, we noticed that there was a ‘for sale’ sign posted in front of the house. The villagers informed us that the house we are renting so the children can attend school, was for sale. They could stay in the house for now, but would need to move if the house was sold.

Our medical team was not distracted by the news and got right to setting up the medical clinic. The volunteers included our nurse, Anne, who worked with Asya, medical recorder, and 2 translators, Thu and Nisa. In total, 12 patients were seen during the medical clinic. One woman was experiencing dizziness and lack of appetite. She was given iron and vitamins to see if her condition would improve and her case will be followed up at the next trip.

Our Area manager, Joanne checked on the condition of the bicycles that Jungle Aid had donated to the village last year to help the school children get to school. Several of the bikes had flat tires and needed some basic maintenance. The children explained that they did not have enough bikes to all ride to school and several had to walk instead. Joanne discussed with the village leader of the possibility of providing bike parts so that the bikes could be repaired and be used by the school children to get to school.

Current issues and solving them:
• Donated rice from previous trip was used up more quickly as there are 6 new school children to be fed and the previous students are getting older and eating more. Therefore, additional financial support was provided to purchase additional rice.
• Paid rent for 2 more months for the 14 children and 6 adults to continue living at this house.
• Followed up on educational scholarship for university student.
• Followed up on condition of donated bicycles to help school children get to school and proposal made to purchase parts needed to repair bicycles.
• Recorded names, ages and grade of 6 new school children to update list of school children under Jungle Aid’s support.

Before leaving the village, we distributed clothing, shoes and other donated items. It was a productive day with an amazing group of volunteers. After the last patient was seen, we said our farewells to the villagers, got in the truck and headed back to Hua Hin.

Our volunteers met in Hua Hin at 7 am on Saturday morning and set out in three vehicles loaded with 500kg of rice and supplies. The group included 10 students and a professor from Webster University.

Our volunteers included our medical team our Osteopath, Sam, and our nurse, Emma. The team worked closely together with the village nurses in order to train them in additional osteopath skills with a few Webster students acting as models for the nurses to practice on. The village nurses were given a bilingual Thai-English manual depicting the various osteopath skills to be used as a reference.

Our assessment team spoke with two of the village contacts to clarify past issues. During the discussion, Joanne was introduced as the new Area Manager for Bang Saphan to the main village contacts.

Current issues and solving them:

Identified the main communication channels between Jungle Aid and village contacts.

Clarified miscommunication issues for 2 previous scheduled trips.

Paid rent for 2 more months for the 14 children and 6 adults to continue living at this house.

Provided additional financial support to purchase additional protein to be included in children’s meals.

Followed up on status and documentation of students planning to continue high school in upcoming years, as well as checking on educational pathways for educational scholarship student.

Offered assistance to school-aged children on the Myanmar side of the border who may wish to attend school but lack financial support.

In the meantime, Beck, Marcus, David and Andy along with some Webster students distributed clothing, shoes and other donated items as well as engaged some parents and children with health promotion activities.

Topics included:

Washing hands and why we do this (soap was given)

Tooth brushing (tooth brushes and tooth paste given)

Mosquito nets and removing standing water from around their house (20 nets supplied)

We were lucky enough to have several Webster Thai speaking students and one Karen speaking student who acted as translators, so we were able to conduct the medical clinic, osteopath training, health promotion activities and village assessment simultaneously. There were also two photographers who took photos of the day’s activities and briefly interviewed different volunteers about why they volunteer with Jungle Aid.

It was a fantastic day with our dedicated volunteers. Once the medical and assessment team had finished their work, we said our farewells to the villagers, got in our vehicles and started our 3-hour drive home.